Fort Benton and the Mullan Road

Blake's soldiers were recruits, four companies raised that spring at Governors Island and Newport Barracks, and Joseph E. Johnston was ordered to inspect them before they left. The army counted 222 enlisted men leaving St. Louis on three steamers. Below Fort Benton they hauled the boats up the rapids on ropes, then waited a month for Mullan, who could find oxen for only twenty-five of the forty wagons wanted. The Secretary of War reported the march at under sixty days. At Walla Walla Major Enoch Steen predicted not ten emigrants would use the road in twenty years.

What the plaque says

Fort Benton and the Mullan Road Fort Benton was the eastern terminus of the Mullan Military Road. Construction of the road began in the summer of 1859 at Fort Walla Walla, Washington, the head of navigation on the Columbia River. Lieutenant John Mullan of the U.S. Topographical Engineers commanded a work detail of 140 civilians and soldiers that hacked, blasted, and carved a road eastward toward Fort Benton through northern Idaho and western Montana. The U.S. Army intended the road to carry troops and supplies from the upper reaches of the Missouri River across the Continental Divide to the Pacific Northwest. Mullan needed to complete the road to Fort Benton by August 1, 1860 in order to meet troops there and then escort them back across the newly completed road. On July 2, 1860, the steamboats Chippewa, and Key West deposited 300 soldiers under the command of Major George Blake at the Fort Benton levee. Among the troops was Lieutenant August Kautz, a Military Academy classmate of Mullan. The soldiers anxiously awaited the arrival of Mullan, who was ordered to lead them back across the newly completed road to Walla Walla. After nearly a month, Mullan and his men arrived at Fort Benton, the road completed on time and a little over budget. Mullan left Fort Benton a few days ahead of Blake's recruits, improving the road in advance of the soldiers. After marching over two months and covering more than 600 miles, the soldiers reached Walla Walla. It was the only time the Mullan Road was used as a military road.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Shep, Fort Benton — 1.8 mi
  A sheepdog who met every train at Fort Benton for five and a half years, waiting for a master who had gone home in a coffin.
• Decision Point — 10 mi
  The rise where Lewis and Clark spent ten days in 1805 deciding which river was the Missouri, against nearly every man in the party.

More markers nearby

• Fort Benton — steps away
• The Manitoba Railroad — 10 mi
• Marias River — 10 mi
• A Montana Crossroads — 13 mi